Dwayne Johnson 'laughed hard' after Vin Diesel claimed his 'tough love' made The Rock better as Hobbs in 'F&F'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Vin Diesel and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson have had a longstanding feud since at least 2016. Although it has been resolved now, Johnson once revealed that he "laughed hard" when Diesel claimed to have given him "tough love" during his early days in the franchise.
Diesel claimed that the rumored feud with The Rock was due to his push for better performance, but Johnson has openly ridiculed his claims. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his reaction to the comments, Johnson said, "I laughed and I laughed hard."
'I could give a lot of tough love'
Diesel had previously sparked controversy by suggesting that it took a lot of "tough love" and work to develop Johnson's character when he entered the 'Fast & Furious' franchise in 2011. "It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character," Diesel said. "As a producer to say, ‘OK, we’re going to take Dwayne Johnson, who’s associated with wrestling, and we’re going to force this cinematic world, audience members, to regard his character as someone that they don’t know’ — Hobbs hits you like a ton of bricks."
"My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be. That's something that I'm proud of, that aesthetic," Diesel continued. "That took a lot of work. We had to get there and sometimes, at that time, I could give a lot of tough love. Not Felliniesque, but I would do anything I'd have to do in order to get performances in anything I'm producing."
'Everyone had a laugh at that'
Johnson responded to these comments in another interview, saying, "I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on 'Fast 9'. And I wish them the best of luck on 'Fast 10' and 'Fast 11' and the rest of the 'Fast & Furious' movies they do that will be without me." Johnson's 'Jungle Cruise' co-star Emily Blunt couldn't resist mocking Diesel's claims, saying, "Just thank God he was there. Thank God. He carried you through that." Johnson quipped, "Felliniesque," referencing Diesel's comments.
'Fast X' generates $500M revenue worldwide
'Fast X' brought in $113.6 million domestically, and has collected over $399 million overseas, meaning that the movie has cleared the half-billion dollars milestone. That makes 'Fast X' the third-highest grossing movie of 2023 so far.